Elizabeth Peyton

Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York

New York, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, Elizabeth Peyton, 1997

Colour: The catalogue illustration fails to convey the true luminosity of the original. The reds and purples are more vibrant and the flesh tones are warmer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is a very minor loss to the extreme bottom centre edge and one in the purple collar towards the centre left edge. No restoration is apparent under ultra-violet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"There is no separation for me between people I know through their music or photos and someone I know personally. The way I perceive them is very similar, in that there's no difference between certain qualities that I find inspiring in them." (Elizabeth Peyton cited in Rizzoli, Ed., Elizabeth Peyton, New York 2005, p. 16).

Udomsak is a fantastically intimate and closely studied portrait of the artist's friend, the Thai-born artist Udomsak Krisanamis. A large work for Peyton who often works on a small scale, it reverberates with all the emotional energy of a candid family snapshot. Employing her familiar yet completely unique style of thinly diluted oil paint washed over a thick gesso ground, this portrait draws the viewer like a magnet, condensing emotion into the picture plane. With a casual, yet effortless ease, Peyton's brief, concise and efficacious brushstrokes imbue the photographic image with an emotional energy simultaneously recalling both Renaissance miniatures and Pre-Raphaelite romanticism. What is so stunning in the present work is the incandescent glow that results from the clear transparent glazes which allow the smooth surface of the pristine white ground to shine through. This brilliant luminosity and translucency of hue transforms this small votive image into an intimate and personal icon which throws into relief the way in which Peyton has drawn upon the history of devotional portraiture to formulate her own distinctly twenty-first century approach to subject matter, celebrity, and love.   

Selecting her subjects from among both her close friends and figures in the public eye, there is a democratisation at play in Peyton's technique that recalls Warhol's program in the 1970s to rescue portraiture from its elitist past. Blurring the social boundaries, Peyton's oeuvre presents a parallel aristocracy equally worthy of depiction, which responds in an intensely personal way to individuals whose lives and actions she deems to be heroic, noble and inspirational. A fellow artist, Peyton's depiction of Krisanamis taps into their shared personal history, but its is rendered in the same levelling style used in images of Hockney, the Royal Family and screen stars.

Peyton's portrait of Udomsak evokes a certain vulnerability, endowing the image with an innate, adolescent romanticism common to her pantheon of celebrities. Using as her source image a snapshot of a private moment, she lends a familiarity and intimacy to the work which the viewer can share. Even if we do not know the sitter, we feel as though we do, as though this moment somehow shares in our own nostalgic personal histories, as though we are looking back at our own family photo album. In this way, Peyton's paintings become intimates of both artist and viewer.